Never leave your cooking or warming fire unattended and always ensure you fully extinguish it. Soak the ashes, stir them and soak them again until they're cool to the touch.
If you plan to harvest your own firewood, ensure you get your free personal use forest products permit online or at your local forestry office.
If you see smoke or flame in the forest and suspect it's a wildfire, call 310-FIRE.
This update is best viewed on a web browser or the AB Wildfire Status App | View previous Edson Forest Area Updates. Bold indicates new or important information.
Would emergency vehicles fit through your entry way? Driveways require a minimum of four metres (12 feet) vertical clearance and a minimum of four metres (12 feet) width to provide safe access for firefighting and other emergency vehicles.
IF YOU PLAN TO HARVEST IT - GET YOUR PERMIT
Personal Use Forest Products Permits are for small-scale personal use only (no resale) for Christmas trees, firewood or transplants. These free permits are available online or in person at your nearest forestry office. The PUFPP entitles individuals to:
- Cut up to 3 Christmas trees under 2.5 m (approximately 8 ft) in height and no more than 15 cm in diameter at the stump.
- Transplant up to 20 trees less than 2.5 m in height.
- Cut up to 5 cubic metres (5 m3) of firewood. The number of trees cut depends on tree species and size and is approximately:
- 5 to 7 large coniferous trees (generally trees with needles), or
- 4 to 6 deciduous trees (generally trees with leaves), or
- 5 m3 is approximately 1.5 cords (approximately 3 level 1/2 ton pickup truck boxes). - Cut up to 5 m3 of roundwood timber (fence posts or poles).
PUFPPs authorize Albertans to cut and removed timber from designated Crown land only. The area-specific PUFPP document must be with you at all times while cutting or transporting trees from Crown land. In one 30-day period, a person can hold up to 4 permits – up to one permit each for:
- firewood
- Christmas trees
- roundwood
- transplants
IF YOU PLAN TO BURN IT - GET YOUR PERMIT
All burning within the Forest Protection Area of Alberta requires a burn permit, with the exception of campfires during fire season, which ends on October 31. You can get your free fire permit by applying online or contact your local forest area office at (780) 723-8527 or you can request your permit using the online fire permit portal.
EDSON FOREST AREA WILDFIRE UPDATE
The wildfire danger in the Edson Forest Area is now VERY HIGH. This means high-intensity fire is expected and likely to spread to treetops. Fire is expected to start easily and to challenge suppression efforts.
Fire danger is a relative index depicting forest environment conditions, how a fire will behave and how much damage a fire could do. View the forecasted fire danger map.
Since January 1, 2024, there have been 103 wildfires in the Edson Forest Area burning a total of 289 ha.
These statistics are consistent with the average number of wildfires and hectares burnt for our forest area and reflect the proactive approaches to wildfire prevention and safe burning practices of residents and industry. Respecting fire bans and restrictions, following fire permit conditions and using care when having a campfire all contributed to reducing human-caused wildfires.
ACTIVE WILDFIRES IN THE EDSON FOREST AREA
EWF080 is now UNDER CONTROL. This wildfire is located in Willmore Wilderness Park, 50 km south-southeast of Grande Cache and 80 km west of Hinton. It's estimated to be 70 ha in size and determined to be caused by lightning.
EBZ001 is a mutual aid wildfire on the border of British Columbia and the Edson Forest Area, within Willmore Wilderness Park. It's currently burning 56 km southwest of Grande Cache, 98 km west of Rock Lake and 147 km west-northwest of Hinton. It is estimated to be 340 ha in size and UNDER CONTROL.
These wildfires are being monitored by firefighters and will be actioned if required. No communities are threatened by these wildfires. Learn more about wildfire classifications on our website and view active wildfires, their locations and stats on the interactive map on our Wildfire Status page.
FIRESMART YOUR HOME AND PROPERTY
FireSmart is a national program that helps Canadians increase their resilience to wildfire. Whether you are a homeowner, resident, business, local government, or Indigenous community, you can take small steps with lasting impacts.
Now that fall is quickly approaching, we ask farm and acreage owners to start thinking about FireSmart options for their property. Here are some tips to get you started:
Fields and pastureland | Give yourself, your neighbours, your livestock and firefighters a chance against wildfire by reducing the accumulation of dry grass and stubble. This will help to prevent a fire from escaping your property or from coming in to your yard. Cut the grass! It sounds simple, but well-maintained short grass can be a good fire deterrent. When a swift-moving grass fire hits a mowed patch of grass, it slows the spread of the fire and sometimes the fire will burn itself out. Grain fields located near or next to building sites should be worked up. At the very least, work up a strip next to the building site to act as a fire guard.
Dry stubble in the fields can carry a fire into the yard and with new farming practices of zero or minimal till, the accumulation of fine, dry fuel is increased. Make one or two passes around the yard before putting your tillage equipment away for the winter and you’ll go a long way in reducing the risk from wildfire. If you have hay fields next to the yard, cut them as late in the season as possible to minimize re-growth, or mow a strip next to the building site to act as a fire guard.
Allowing livestock to graze in the fields next to the yard in the fall will also help to reduce the amount of vegetation and potential fire hazard. Dry pastureland presents the same challenges to wildfire as hayfields and grain fields. Tilling around the outside perimeter of pastureland will create a fire break that could save your field from burning, or prevent a fire from spreading to your other fields.
It's never too late to participate. Learn how you can FireSmart your home and property! Visit FireSmart Alberta. For farm or acreages, you can download the Farm and Acreage FireSmart magazine.
WILDFIRE PREVENTION TIPS, TOOLS & INFORMATION
Albertans are always asked to use caution when working or recreating in the outdoors:
- Before you burn it, get your fire permit. Fire permits in Alberta.
- Clear debris from hot spots on your off-highway vehicle.
- Ensure your campfire is out - soak it, stir it, soak it again.
- Before you head out this weekend, check out the albertafirebans.ca website or download the app to stay informed.
- If you are working within the Forest Protection of Alberta, you must carry sufficient firefighting equipment as per the Forest Prairie and Protection Act.
- For road closure information, please visit 511.alberta.ca
- For information regarding smoke in the area, you can visit firesmoke.ca
- NASA FIRMS Fire Information website is a great resource to give an idea of the location of wildfires in the area, but note that the data is based on interpolation and often can make the wildfire look larger then it actually is.
- Subscribe to the Edson Forest Area wildfire update to receive an email when new information is posted.
- Download the Alberta Wildfire App for Apple and Android device.
- Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
For more information, please contact:
